Ubuntu:Bluetooth Wireless Training

Bluetooth technology allows you to replace the cables typically used to connect keyboards, mice and other peripherals. According to the official Bluetooth site, the goals of Bluetooth are “robustness, low power and low cost”. This sounds like a great option but many people have problems with Bluetooth if you look on the Internet forums. So … I bought a Kennison Bluetooth keyboard, mouse and detachable number pad….I figured this will be the worst to set up. I was actually dead wrong. The Kennison keyboard was a breeze, here is a tutorial on how I did it.

This will give you the basis for what you need to make sure you can use Bluetooth with the setup.Actually all I did is to make sure these applications were installed and then I restarted the system and everything was working including the keyboard, moue and detachable number pad. There are several function keys for media, gadgets, etc. that did not work immediately but I am working on those. The CDROM opener worked fine.

In my situation I was using a USB wireless keyboard, an old Logitech, that had been around as a replacement. What I found interesting is that I could use both keyboards at the same time, one Bluetooth and one RF wireless. Now, though I could type at the same time with two keyboards, that was not really very useful as I only have two hands, but it does illustrate the possibility if you needed that feature. The RF wireless usually will use 2.4 GHz and a USB connection while my Bluetooth used 2.4 GHz-2..47GHz as a standard frequency.

The Kennison Slimblade Media Notebook Set was perfect as a small compact keyboard with 30 feet of range for my Ubuntu 8.10 desktop. It has a detachable numberpad that I set aside until I need it and of course the small, but very useful mouse also comes with the set. This is a great set up if you need to conserver space, as I did as I have two keyboards and mice on my desk as I always run several desktops at the same time.

Overall, I am impressed with how easy it was to get Bluetooth working with this keyboard. Ubuntu 8.10 and Linux in general have come a long way. I will now surely purchase more Bluetooth products in the future to use with Linux. Oh, and by the way, I don’t purchase products that have the word”Microsoft” on them, wonder why they are hard to set up with Linux?